PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder isn’t just for those who were in war or have been in a war-type of environment. PTSD can happen to anyone.
When you’re under stress, a hormone known as cortisol will usually work to slow down certain systems that aren’t necessary at the time. While this is helpful during a temporary situation, prolonged release of cortisol can affect you negatively. For people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), their stress levels remain elevated and it can lead to permanently abnormal cortisol levels. As you might expect, some of the effects of PTSD can be physical as well.
1. Acute Stress Disorder (ASD):
Occurs within the first month after a traumatic event.
Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, intrusive thoughts, and avoidance of reminders of the trauma.
2. Uncomplicated PTSD:
Develops after a single, isolated traumatic event.
Characterized by flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance, and changes in mood and cognition.
3. Dissociative PTSD:
Involves significant dissociation, such as depersonalization (feeling detached from oneself) or derealization (feeling the world is unreal).
May also experience flashbacks, nightmares, and avoidance.
4. Complex PTSD (CPTSD):
Develops after prolonged or repeated exposure to traumatic events, such as childhood abuse, war, or torture.
In addition to symptoms of uncomplicated PTSD, CPTSD involves difficulties with emotion regulation, identity, and relationships.
5. Delayed-Onset PTSD:
Symptoms appear more than six months after the traumatic event.
6. Comorbid PTSD:
Occurs when PTSD co-occurs with other mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or substance use disorders
When reacting to stress, your body seeks to preserve its water supply. This can mean pulling moisture away from the skin. If your skin isn’t properly moisturized, it will have trouble repairing itself when you’ve been hurt and you’ll scar more easily.
PTSD affects the limbic part of our brain, which is responsible for stress regulation. Studies show that if this part of your brain goes into overdrive, it can cause tinnitus or ringing in the ears.
Cortisol affects weight gain and fat storage. Since the abdominal muscles have four times as many cortisol receptors as the rest of the body, you’re likely to gain weight around your abdomen.
Your digestive system slows down during times of stress. Since people with PTSD experience stress as a constant state, they may have trouble digesting their meals. Over time they can develop digestive disorders like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
If you’ve had high cortisol levels for a long time, you can deplete your adrenal glands. Depleted adrenal glands lead to higher prolactin levels, which in turn increase your pain sensitivity.
RELATED: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: What We All Need To Know
High cortisol levels can affect how well your muscle cells absorb amino acids. As a result, you’ll have trouble building muscle regardless of how well you eat or how often you exercise.
When your body goes into flight, fight, or freeze mode, blood flow is usually redirected from the extremities to the torso. Being in a constant state of stress means that people with PTSD often have poor blood flow and their extremities always feel cold.
Given the link between your digestive and immune systems, it’s not surprising that inflammation in one will cause the same issue in the other. As a result, many people with PTSD have more allergy flares or develop new allergies.
Living in a heightened mental state can make it difficult for those with PTSD to fall asleep. Even when they go to sleep, they may not stay that way for long.
PTSD can affect body temperature regulation, which is why some people with the condition sweat profusely. Interestingly, yawning is your body’s way of cooling down your brain so you’ll yawn more frequently.,
Many people only think about veterans when they hear the term PTSD. However, the condition doesn’t only affect those who are or have been in the military. Any traumatic event can cause PTSD. In fact, it’s estimated that up to 13 million Americans deal with PTSD every year. About 70 percent of Americans experience a traumatic event annually and another 20 percent of these people will go on to be diagnosed with PTSD.
Some traumatic events that can lead to the condition are physical assault, the death of a loved one, domestic violence, sexual assault, a vehicular accident, and a natural disaster. Furthermore, studies show that living situations such as poverty and persistent racial discrimination that lead to violence can cause PTSD as well. These issues tend to be prevalent among Black Americans. As a result, studies that focused on how PTSD affected different ethnicities showed that Black people are affected by the condition at higher rates than other ethnicities.
RELATED: These PTSD Signs Are Commonly Overlooked In Children
It’s important to note that not everyone’s PTSD lasts for a lifetime. Additionally, everyone’s treatment journey is different. When you know your options, you can have informed conversations about your treatment. Doctors often recommend active monitoring for people who have mild symptoms of PTSD or have only had the condition for fewer than four weeks. After a month, they would be re-assessed if they need further treatment.
If further treatment is needed, therapists generally opt for variations of talk therapy before turning to medication. Some of the options for this kind of therapy include cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive processing therapy, prolonged exposure, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, and narrative exposure therapy. While they will differ in their details, therapy will be used to help you identify and manage your symptoms.
The final treatment option is medication. Most doctors don’t prescribe drugs for PTSD unless talk therapy is either ineffective or insufficient. They’re also more likely to be given if you have other mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety.
Millions of Americans are living with PTSD that was caused by trauma. However, not all of them are aware that the condition can cause physical symptoms as well as mental ones. If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, talk to your doctor about being assessed for PTSD.
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